Anyone inhabiting Twitter would have noticed the hashtag #auspol. Actually there are two pseudo political ‘discussion’ tags in the twitterverse. #auspol and #auspolitics. The former is inhabited primarily by aggressive reiterant right-wing froot-loops whose only perceptible purpose on the medium is to curse & abuse anyone who happens to disagree with anything any of them tweets. No discussion, no cogent response to challenges for validation, just the usual and anticipated argumentum ad absurdum. The latter hashtag seems to receive more rational and considered tweets, which means it’s more the ‘home’ of so-called left-wing types.

Now, even semi-regular readers will realise pretty quickly that not only do I not hold with the Neanderthal paradigm of ‘left’ and ‘right’ as a means of classifying a political or social stance, I rarely use the terms. Labelling an argument only identifies the labeller’s own inability to deal with, counter or further expand upon their own views in relation to the said argument.

It’s a trait I’ve noticed as quite prevalent among conservative apologists in the world of ‘new media’, that of abuse and aggression in a bid to shut down any opposition or counter argument to that which might be proposed by the apologists. It’s commonly seen as a tactic in forums with a distinct conservative bias, like Debate_and_Relate. A modus operandi of any discussion forum I oppose vehemently as not representative of either aggressor or respondent and utterly unsupportive of genuine discussion and debate. However, it’s pertinent to state that such places are not interested in genuine discussion and debate in any event. Only in promoting their own agenda and shutting down the token opposites allowed to partake. In my experience, anyone with a genuine understanding of debate, argument tactics and logical fallacy is quickly excluded. Can’t have the bias usurped, can they?

That’s why I’ve re-opened Thinktank today. In a bid to give those I’ve run across in the Twitterverse – of any socio-political viewpoint – somewhere that 140 characters doesn’t strangle their expression, and that expression can have free reign without having to cope with abuse & logical fallacy. So, if you’re a denizen of the twitterverse, or just looking for somewhere to discuss matters of import to you or debate issues with others you find worth debating, then come along to Thinktank. Everyone is welcome, as long as they’re well behaved. I’m sure even the ‘right’ have it in them.